


Can I help you?

by River_vixen019



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Homeless Peter Parker, Hurt Peter Parker, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Irondad Week 2019, May Parker (Spider-Man) Dies, Mentioned Skip Westcott, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Orphan Peter Parker, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter is a Little Shit, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2020-10-05 01:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20480825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/River_vixen019/pseuds/River_vixen019
Summary: May Parker died about 3 months ago in a car accident, just after summer break had begun. Peter didn’t have anywhere to go and he couldn't go back into the foster system, so he disappeared. However, in the midst of the madness he forgot that he had applied for an internship at Stark Industries. As fate would have it for Mr. Parker, his application landed on the desk of Tony Stark.





	1. The Begining

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is my first time writing so the chapters will probably be short and not posted on a specific schedule. I will try to update often, but school is hitting me like a freight train. I hope you guys like it
> 
> -D

Chapter 1

It had been 3 months since May died.

Peter missed her so much, but to be honest, he missed a lot of things. 

School, his friends, his apartment, a personal bathroom, but he missed May the most. 

\--------------

“Next time don’t steal cars!” Peter yelled, as he webbed up 2 car thieves. He hopped up onto a building and started to head toward lower Manhattan. The sun was starting to set and Peter wanted to make it back to his “home” before it got dark. 

Peter had found an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. The whole area was abandoned warehouses which made it a perfect place for Peter to live. He quickly webbed up to the 4th story window, or what was supposed to be a window, and swung inside. 

He lived in a small room with one window, that was probably a storage closet at one point. All the room contained was a picture of May, some of Peter's clothes, an old mattress, some blankets and pillows, and all the shelf-stable food Peter had. 

He lifted up the corner of the mattress to reveal his stash of money. Peter had the habit of counting all his money before he went to bed, because it gave him peace of mind. 

“$539, that's enough to last me until November” He yawned. “Goodnight, May” Peter said to the picture of May he had next to his “bed”. In the picture, May had been wearing a beautiful yellow sundress and Peter had been wearing a button up t-shirt and some khakis. The were standing together in front of the Statue of Liberty. 

He then laid down and fell asleep.

\--------------

“Hey watch where you're going!” A random New-Yorker yelled, as Peter ran past him, trying not to be late for work. 

Peter had been working for Mr. Delmar under the table for about 2 months now. He was almost always late for his job.

It was currently September, which meant summer had ended. Since Peter was supposed to be in school he could only work after school hours on weekdays. This was both good and bad for him. On the good side Peter had more time to be Spider-Man, but on the bad side he worked less which meant less income.

“Sorry Mr. Delmar, I promise I won’t be late next time!” Peter apologized the minute he walked in the door. 

“That’s what you said the last 12 times, Peter. Can you go stock the shelves?”

“Yeah,” Peter said breathlessly before disappearing into the storage room. He enjoyed working there, especially since it was close to May’s old apartment, Midtown, and Ned and MJ’s apartments. Ever since he disappeared he had been keeping an eye on Ned and MJ. 

Working at Mr. Delmar's was really nice, he got paid $108 dollars a week, and got to hangout with Mr. Delmar and Murph. The only thing he had to watch out for was when kids from Midtown would pass by, the last thing Peter needed was to be recognized and shipped off to a foster home.

\-----------

“What’s this Happy?” Tony said curiously as happy dropped a stack of applications on Tony’s desk.

“It’s the stack of internship applications from Midtown high.”

“Why am I getting applications from high schoolers? We only do internships with college students.” Tony said in a very annoyed tone. 

“Most, if not all of the students who applied graduated in May, Tony. Just look at them, or don’t, it’s your call.” Happy said before he turned away and walked swiftly across the room.

“Whatever, I guess I could look one.” Tony said flipping through the stack and pulling a random form out. “Peter Parker, what a fun name don’t you think Fri? Get me everything you know on Mr. Parker here.” 

“Sure thing, boss” Friday replied already pulling up documents on Peter Parker. “Mr. Parker, is a student at Midtown high, he lives in Queens, and is in 10th grade. He was an honors student with a 4.5 GPA. He has won the science fair 3 years in a row, and is on the Decathlon team. He was recommended to graduate this school year.”  
“He seems like a smart kid.” Tony said contemplating whether or not he should let Mr.Parker become an intern. “You know what Friday, send him an email, I’m willing to take a chance on him.” 

“Yes sir,” Friday responded.

\-----------

On Sundays, after patrol Peter would often go to a public library and check up on Ned and MJ using one of the public computers. He had about 3 emails from Ned asking if he was still alive, and one from Stark Industries. Peter was confused, but he still opened the email anyway.

Dear Mr.Parker,  
We have received your internship application here at Stark Industries, and we would like to inform you that you have been accepted. Please come to Stark Tower Monday, September 8th at 8am, for further evaluation and to be assigned to your lab.  
-Stark Industries

Peter couldn’t believe his eyes, he couldn’t even remember applying, but he did and god was he happy. This meant that he could work on more Spider-Man things without breaking into the school chem lab once a week, but It also meant that he had something else to focus on other than work and Spider-Man.


	2. The First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter's first day at his new internship, let's hope it goes well!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm going to update on Sundays because that gives me enough time to write good chapters and to make them longer to make up for the wait. Also please note that my form of proof reading is just quickly skimming over the chapter! I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> -D

Chapter 2 The first day

Peter had decided to celebrate by going to the Thai place he and May always went to. It was a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that was very cheap. He sat in their usual corner booth and began to order his usual. Pad thai, larb, sticky rice, and a glass of iced tea.

It felt strange being here, since the last time he’d been here was the day he got a job at Mr. Delmar’s. Before that all the other times had been with May. He watched the news while he waited for his food. The Daily Bugle came on and J. Jonah Jameson was talking about Spider-Man. He was calling him Spider-Menace, ‘That’s not even remotely catchy’ Peter thought. However, he was pulled from his thoughts when his food arrived. It had only taken Peter about 5-10 minutes to finish eating, since he was famished, and pay. 

When we was walking back to Manhattan, Peter realized that he would have to be extremely careful at the internship. One wrong move could send him into the foster system and he didn’t want to go back. He couldn’t go back. 

\------------

“Hello?” Peter said tiredly as he answered the phone at 1:17am on a Thursday night in May.

“Is this Peter Parker?” The person on the line asked.

“Yes, it is. Who is this?” Peter questioned, wondering why someone was calling him at 1:17 in the morning.

“I’m sorry to inform you that there was an accident regarding you Aunt May. She was in a 2-car collision and died upon impact. I'm so sorry for your loss.” The person on the phone said with a solemn tone in their voice. 

“Th-This c-can’t be t-true!” Peter stuttered trying to hold back his tears.

“I’m sorry but it is sir, do you have any other family members?” 

“N-no,” Peter sobbed “M-may, w-was my la-last o-one.”

“Okay sweetheart,” They said in a soft tone. “We’re going to send someone over from CPS to help you find a foster home. Ok?” 

“Y-yeah” Peter replied quietly trying to calm himself down, but he was a wreck, he’d just lost May. The only family he had left was now gone. 

“Ok honey, they’ll be over soon.” 

“O-ok”

Peter gasped and woke up, dripping in sweat. “May, I’m so sorry,” Peter croaked while rocking himself back and forth. “I’m so, so sorry.” Peter repeated. After about 10 minutes Peter knew he needed to calm himself down. “Breathe in” He said while taking a deep breath, “Breathe out,” He continued pushing all the air out of his lungs. 

When the nightmares started after Ben died, Peter used this trick to calm himself down, but he always knew they wouldn't work in the long run. He always knew the nightmares would be there.

The little alarm clock Peter had found in an alleyway said that it was 6am, just about the time he usually got up. “ I gotta hurry up so I’m not late for the internship,” Peter said, pulling himself together. 

\--------------

It was 7:58 by the time Peter had reached Stark Tower. “Come on Peter, you got this!” He said calming himself down before he walked in. He then walked in and went straight to the front desk. 

“Um- excuse me?,” Peter said to the person at the front desk. 

“Yes?” A very annoyed worker said. His name tag said David.

“My name is Peter Parker and I’m a new intern here-”

“Are you sure because you look like you could be 12?” David questioned

“Y-Yeah, I’m almost-” Peter said before he was cut off.

“Ah Mr.Parker glad to see you could join us today.” Someone said behind Peter. He turned around and saw that it was the one and only Tony freaking Stark! Peter was mentally fangirling at this point. 

“O-oh, H-hi Mr.Stark! It’s um- very n-nice to meet y-you!” Peter said trying not to stumble over his words. ‘Oh... My...God... I’m talking to Tony Stark! Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!’ was all Peter could think in that particular moment.

“Nice to meet you as well Peter” Tony said, “David do you think you could get his pass and schedule ready right now, so I can give him a tour?”

“Yes, sir” David said before quickly hurrying into the back room.

“I was very curious about your application, it said your graduating this year? That’s pretty impressive, your what, 14?” Tony asked

“I’m 15 now.” Peter said sheepishly feeling stupid for correcting him.

“Here you are Mr.Parker.” David said handing Peter his key card and schedule, saving him from further embarrassment. 

“Thank you,” Peter replied taking the key card from David’s hand 

“I’ll show you where you’ll be working.” Tony said walking toward the elevator.

“O-ok,” Peter said following.

\------------

When they stepped out of the elevator, on the 4th floor, Tony walked over to lab #15 “This is where you’ll be working,”

“Ok” Peter replied. 

“Is that all you say kid?” Tony asked amused. 

“No, I just have nothing else to say” Peter said cheekily. 

“Whatever, just scan your card and open the door.” Tony said with a hunt of amusement in his voice.

Peter scanned his key card and opened the door, it had revealed an incredible lab with everything Peter could think of. There was a desk of to either side of the room, complete with a Stark Computer, and a 3D blueprint hologram. There was a huge work table in the middle of the room, and the walls were lined with cupboards, and cabinets, filled with supplies. 

“Wow, this is so cool!” Peter said astonished “Is that a thermonuclear microscope?”

“Yep,” Tony said popping the ‘p’, “it’s still in the testing stages,but before we release it to the public, we’re letting the people working in the R&D labs test it out.”

“That’s awesome, I wonder if you can see individual atoms with this?” 

“I believe so, but you’ll have to prove it,” 

“Okay,”

“Anyway for your first assignment I want you to come up with something that can help with clean energy.” Tony said looking at Peter expectantly.

“Ok, that sound relatively challenging.” Peter replied already brainstorming.

“Alright, I'll leave you to it then,” Tony said, and with that he left the room.

‘You got this Parker, let’s hope you get to keep this internship.’ Peter thought to himself getting to work.

\-------------

“Hey Fri, how’s the new intern doing?” Tony asked because he was bored and curious. There was something different about this Parker kid, but he didn’t know what it was.

“He seems to have finished his assignment an hour ago.” said Friday.

“What?” Tony said standing up, “What has he been doing since then?”

“It looks like he’s been doing some chemistry.” Friday responded

Tony didn’t say anything else as he walked through the door. 

\------------

When he got to Peter’s lab he had Friday open the door.

“Hey, Friday tells me that your done with you’re clean energy assignment already. That’s record time for this assignment.” Tony said amused.

“Oh yeah, I was just kinda playing around with some different formulas,” Peter said moving away from a side table, to the center work table”

“I had an idea based off the amount of noise New York gives off. I was unable to actually construct my design seeing as i picked a metal that you didn’t have in the workshop, but here is the blueprint.” Peter said pulling up the hologram. “I did my research and vibranium, would be the perfect metal to use, because my device absorbs sound waves and kinetic energy, and converts it into electrical energy. So, you could throw it back and forth to create energy, or you could place it outside where it would absorb the most sound. After that you can plug it into your house, and have power for up to 24 hours. But, the amount of power would vary depending on the amount that is being used, and the size of the house or building.” Peter finished taking a breath. 

“Wow, kid that’s actually a really smart idea.” Tony said astonished. 

“Why don’t you go home, and tomorrow you can focus on finding a different type of material, or a close substitute to vibranium. That way you can work on your model to see if your idea actually works.” Tony suggested.

“Ok, have a good evening then Mr. Stark.” Peter said walking over to collect his coat and backpack, but Tony didn’t miss him pushing some unknown chemicals into his backpack before he walked out of the lab.

“Friday, keep an eye on Mr.Parker please.” Tony said before he walked out of the lab. 

“Sure, boss.” Friday responded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? What'd you think? I hope you guys liked it because the angst is coming in the next chapter! also there will be more Spider-Man and Iron Man in the next chapter. I wrote out an entire outline to keep me in schedule and to make the chapters have more structure. I'll see you guys next week with another chapter!
> 
> -D
> 
> P.S. I'm really pissed about the whole Sony, Marvel thing like WTF guys?!


	3. Spider-Man or Spider-Menace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late posting. The plague went around my school and I feel like crap right now. I wont be posting the next chapter until the 29th because I'm writing them as I go and I didn't finish this chapter until 20 minutes ago. I don't really want to put a timer on my writing because that tends to affect it. Plus I'm not really that happy with this chapter since it was really rushed. Sorry 
> 
> -D

Chapter 3 Spider-Man or Spider-Menace?

Peter had left the lab at 2:15 pm that afternoon, giving him enough time to run to Mr. Delmar's, and get to work. He usually worked from 2:30-5:30 or 6, depending on the amount of customers their getting. On his way over Peter memorized his schedule, it was:

Monday- School 7:30-12pm, Internship 12:15-2:45, Mr.Delmar 3-5:30-6pm

Tuesday- School 7:30-12pm, Internship 12:15-4pm

Wednesday- School 7:30-12pm, Internship 12:15-2:45, Mr.Delmar 3-5:30-6pm

Thursday- School 7:30-12pm, Internship 12:15-2:45, Mr.Delmar 3-5:30-6pm

Friday- School 7:30-12pm, Internship 12:15-4pm

“Wow, you’re on time for once, what a surprise?” Mr. Delmar joked.

“Yeah, I got let out early today.” Peter said. He didn’t want anyone to start asking to many questions. 

“Ok, well can you restock the shelves and clean the tables for me?” Mr. Delmar requested.

“Yeah, sure Mr. Delmar.” Peter replied, walking into the backroom, to get the cleaning supplies.

\---------------

It was 5:45pm by the time Peter got done working, he had been paid today, so he walked back to his ‘home’ to stash his money. When he got there he quickly changed into his Spider-Man suit and put his money under the mattress. Then he was out the door and the building heading to queens to make his daily rounds.

It took Peter about 5 min to swing all the way to queens since he knew the fastest possible route (via building) there.

First he went to MJ’s apt. He listened to see if she was there. Peter wanted so badly to leave her notes, but every once and a while if the flower shop was having a sale, he would buy her a single Black Dahlia and leave it on her windowsill. The only thing was that Peter never knew if she saw them or not. 

Once he knew she was there and safe, he went to Ned's. The Leeds lived in a nice apartment. It was about 5 minutes from May’s old apartment, but he never went there as Peter, too scared to be recognized. When he got to there he did the same, he sat outside his room window and listened. Peter always wondered how many new lego sets he had bought, because he missed building them with Ned. When Ned got a little too close to the window Peter swung away to May’s.

He would usually stop by to see if anyone moved in or if May’s stuff was still in the apartment. When he looked in through the kitchen window, everything was still there. Peter couldn’t go in, he was too afraid if we went in he would have a mental breakdown to bad for him to come back from. So instead he just stayed outside and waited on the roof for some crime or someone that needed help. After sitting on the roof for about 5 minutes, he heard a woman scream. 

Peter immediately sprang into action. He leaped from the roof and swung 3 blocks north, to witness a mugging in action. “You know purses are for girls right?” He jumped down, punched the guy, and webbed him. “I think this belongs to you.” he said handing the lady her purse.

“Thank you!” She said before hurrying away. 

Peter continued swinging out into the city.

\-------------- 

It was about 8pm when Peter heard it. A car speeding through the streets of New York. He quickly swung into action, following the car. Peter quickly caught up with it, and jumped onto the roof of the car. 

“Sir, I'd like to ask you to slow down.” Peter said in a mocking tone when he stuck his head through the sunroof.

“What the-” The driver said before grabbing a gun from the center console. 

Peter felt a burst of nerves at the back of his neck and he pulled his head out of the sunroof, seconds before the driver fired the gun. 

“It’s not nice to shoot people!” Peter yelled as he webbed up the gun and threw it out of the car. 

Just then the driver began to swerve the car in hopes to shake Peter. Sadly he didn’t know that Peter could stick to things, so the idea was fruitless. 

“Can you please slow down? The wind is messing up my hair.” Peter said again trying to stop the car. The police were struggling to keep up, but then again they weren’t speeding through the streets of New York. 

Coming up on an intersection There was a red light, but the driver wasn’t slowing down. A teenager was crossing the road, and if Peter tried to web him over, the car would still probably hit him so he had another idea. A really stupid idea. Really stupid. 

In an attempt to save the boy, Peter jumped off the car and pulled himself to the crosswalk. He braced himself and pushed against the car when it caught up to him. Stopping it completely. Taking the entire force of the impact. The entire car tipped forward, but then fell back down.The front was scrunched up from the amount of force Peter had to use to stop it. 

Peter quickly turned around, trying to catch his breath, and looked at the teen. He stood there wide eyed, gaping at Peter. “You’re that spider dude!” He said pulling an earbud out of his ears. 

“Yeah,” Peter responded breathlessly. “One second.” He turned away and walked over to the driver, who was crawling out of the car. “Sorry about your car man,” He said webbing him up.

“Whatever, the man responded. 

Peter then walked back over to the teenager. 

“You should start to look both ways before crossing.” he said hopping up onto the nearby lamppost, “And it’s Spider-Man.” he said before swinging away.

\---------------

Peter had gotten home that night, at 12:14am, absolutely exhausted and in pain. Who knew crime fighting could be so tiring? And painful?

He changed out of his suit and practically passed out the minute he laid down. Maybe he should start to end his nights earlier? No, he can’t do that. New York needs Spider-Man. And Spider-Man is the only thing Peter has left.

\--------------

Tony had been vigilant for a while especially after the winter soldier had resurfaced, so he checked the news a lot. What had caught him off guard this particular day was completely absurd. An article had come out from the Daily Bugle titled ‘Spider-Man or Spider-Menace? Is New York's newest vigilante out to get us all?’

This made Tony very curious. “Friday look up all information concerning this ‘Spider-Man’” Tony said wanting to know just exactly who this is. 19 articles, 47 YouTube videos, and 6 pictures came up. Tony looked at the most recent YouTube video. It was a video of Spider-Man catching a car to save a 15 year-old pedestrian.

“How fast was that car going Fri?” Tony asked out of curiosity.

“About 72mph-”

“Holy, shit,” Tony said. “Can a normal person survive that time of impact and force?” 

“No.” Friday responded 

Tony continued to research Spider-Man and he was worried. This guy seemed young and immature, constantly joking and doing back-flips on roofs for people when they asked. He just didn’t trust him.

“Can you alert me the next time this ‘Spider-Guy’ makes an appearance?” Peter said. 

“Of course boss.” Friday responded.

\------------

It was 8:41 when Peter awoke the next morning. That put him a bit behind schedule, but it’s fine since he doesn’t have to work for Mr. Delmar on Tuesdays. Peter got up and dressed and sneaked into a nearby YMCA, where he used their showers early in the morning. When he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror Peter slightly cringed. His entire lower abdomen was covered in a deep purple bruise. He needed to eat soon, so his healing factor would work. Afterwards, he walked to the library to research sound waves since he had about 2.5 hours to kill. 

Turns out sound waves aren’t that complicated so after 1 hour of reading about them Peter wasn’t surprised that he didn’t know what to do. So he checked his email.

The only thing in his inbox was 1 spam email from a makeup company. So, he hacked into Flash Thompson's Netflix account, to watch some FRIENDS. Of course Flash’s password would be Spider-Man123. Peter watched about 3 or 4 episodes of FRIENDS before he left the library.

\---------------

Peter arrived at the internship at 12:09 pm which was strange since he never arrived anywhere early, but he never wanted to waste a minute of his precious time in the lab. Peter knew this was the only form of education he was getting so he decided to make the most of it. 

Peter went up to the lab and immediately made some changes to his design. He found a proper metal to use, that was a close substitute for vibranium. He also found an easier way to convert the sound waves into electricity.

After he had finished making some changes to his design, he began to build it. First he started with the technology, creating a microphone that was both powerful and small, then he created the motherboard, and system that would convert the sound into electricity. He attached component after component, making the perfect system. He was only halfway done after that. Peter continued, by adding in the housing unit for the stored electricity. He was then able to create the casing, that supposedly would be everything proof. Peter used a titanium-alloy metal, and he decided to make it a polyhedron (3D hexagon), so it could attach to any surface. The metal was thin and there were 8 microphones in the converter. These microphones would pickup the sound that reverberates through the metal, turning it into power. When he finally finished the design, complete with an electromagnet key that would make the polyhedron open to expose the inner components for easy repairs, he began to test it to see if he needed to make any last minute revisions.

About 15 minutes later, Peter had set up a screen to monitor the sound waves and amount of power being converted. He was throwing things and making all kinds of noise in the lab, attempting to see what made the most noise in the lab. 

\----------------

“Boss there is a concerning amount of noise coming from R&D Lab #15 on the fourth floor,” Friday informed Tony 

“Why are you telling me?” Tony responded annoyed.

“Other interns are complaining, boss.” 

“Ok, whatever I’ll go check.” Tony said leaving his lab and walking toward the elevator

\----------------

Tony had just stepped out of the elevator when he heard a loud bang. He grew concerned and walked swiftly down the hallway and stopped outside of lab #15. Another loud bang came from inside the room.

“Hey kid is everything okay? Friday told me that there was a noise complaint.” Tony asked with a concerned voice.

“Oh hi Mr.Stark, I didn’t see you there.” Peter said turning away from the computer screen “Y-yeah, I’m fine why would you ask? If you don’t mind me asking?”

“Like I said kid, there was a noise complaint coming from a next door lab. So what’s going on in here?” Tony said gesturing to the lab that had random objects all over the floor. 

“Oh, sorry I was testing out the project I was working on!” Peter said walking up to the table where the polyhedron. He winced when he bumped his lower abdomen on the table. This action didn’t go unnoticed by Tony. He quickly masked his concern when Peter turned around with the polyhedron, handing it to Tony. They stood there in an awkward silence for what felt like an hour until Tony finally spoke

“So how does it work?” Tony asked

Peter then proceeded to explain how it works showing Tony the electromagnetic key, and showing him the statistics on the computer. He tried not to notice the looks of concern coming from Tony. But he chose to ignore them for now. There was nothing to be suspicious about. Except for the fact that he’s on the run from CPS and is a vigilante.

“There’s still some changes I might need to make, but I'm thinking about putting one or two in the streets of New York.” Peter said trying to end the conversation. “The diagnostics are promising and it’s generated about enough energy to power a house for 4 hours in the last 30min.” 

“Wow, kid you really thought everything through,” Tony said, turning towards the door, “Keep up the good work.” And with that he left the room.

Peter breathed a sigh of relief the second the door closed and he began to work on a new web formula.  
\---------------

Peter went out as Spider-Man that night at 5:30pm. He made his nightly rounds and stopped a couple muggings. He felt like someone was watching him all night but he just thought it was his nerves. 

Around 9pm he decided it would be a good idea to take a five minute break and eat something before he passed out of malnourishment. However his meal was interrupted by the sound of something heavy landing on the roof. He pulled his mask down over his face and turned around to see the Iron Man standing behind him. 

“Hi, Spider-Man, do you have a second to talk?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hoped you liked it! I wasn't that happy with it, but it was okay. I hope that by the next time I post I will already have 3-4 chapters written, so I can start to take my time. Thank you guys for the wonderful comments! 
> 
> -D


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Peter have a short conversation, leaving Tony annoyed with Spider-man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG guys I'm so sorry for disappearing! I had mad writers block, a ton of school work, and an astrophysics final that I had to put all of my time into. I'll try not to disappear again and I'm going to immediately begin chapter 5. I hope to have it out by Thanksgiving. Thank you all for the love and support! Once again I'm sorry for disappearing like that!
> 
> -D

Chapter 4 Winter is Coming

“Hi, Spider-Man, do you have a second to talk?” Tony asked the vigilante on a rooftop at 9:17pm. He stepped out of his suit and had an ‘I’m waiting’ look on his face.

“Um...why are you here?” Peter asks quickly thinking of the fastest and most hard to track way to the warehouse. Last thing he needed was Tony Stark following him and figuring out his identity. 

“And a happy hello to you too bug boy. Now tell me isn’t it past your bedtime?” Tony questioned. He stepped out of his suit and stood about 5 feet away from Peter. He wanted to see how fast he could get this kid to slip up and give away the tiniest hint to his identity. 

Just then Peter heard something. It sounded like a bank robbery judging by the alarms he could hear. He could tell that it was probably the bank on 32nd and 12th street. “No, but I don’t think it’s past the bedtime of the people robbing the bank on the corner of 32nd and 12th street” He turned around and jumped off the corner of the roof, but before he jumped he turned around and said “Have a good night Mr. Stark.” Then, he was gone, leaving a dumbfounded billionaire on the roof of a random building in queens. 

\-----------------------

“Excuse me sir, but I think this bank is closed” Peter said nonchalantly, after walking into the bank on 32nd and 12th street. 

“Who are you?” the robber yelled pointing his gun at Peter, while covering the guy who was collecting the money. “Does anyone know who Spider-Man is?” Peter said in a whiny tone. “No,” replied another guy before looking over, and pointing his gun at Peter.

This did put Peter a bit on edge, since he still hadn’t had enough practice with guns, let alone 2. So he just decided to wing it. Then, he had an idea. He slowly raised his hands, putting them high enough to web the guns from the felons. “Didn’t your parents ever tell you not to bring a gun to a web fight?” We shot out two webs and yanked his arms back, ripping the guns out of their hands. One of the men began to run towards Peter, out of anger. Peter, however, recated fast enough to punch him in the jaw and sweep out his legs; causing him to fall to the floor. 

He shot out another 2 webs at the man in the corner, and the one on the floor. His enhanced hearing picked up the sound of police sirens 6 blocks away which gave him about a minute and a half to get out of there. He went up to the other guy tapped him on the shoulder, and waved before punching him hard enough to knock him out. 

Peter grabbed a pen and paper of the front desk before writing ‘I think you guys can take it from here -Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’. And sticking it to one of the robbers.

He left the bank before the cops got there.

\-------------------

“--The vigilante known as ‘Spider-Man’ apprehended the criminals before they were able to get away with the money--” the reporter on the news said. 4 different outlets had already reported on this masked hero within 15 minutes after the cops showed up.

“Mute” Tony said in an annoyed tone, while pinching his temples. He was tired of all this Spider-Man crap. The kid had really got on his nerves, and Tony was just itching to figure out who he is. The only problem was that the kid was invisible. He never left any clues as to who he might be under the mask, it was almost like Spider-Man didn’t have another life. The was nothing. Nada. None. Zip. Zilch. That made Tony even angrier. 

“Tony?” Pepper said worriedly and angrily, as she entered the workshop. “Where have you been all day?” You were supposed to go to a meeting at 4 today with shareholders! I told you not to skip it! You’d better have a good explanation.” 

“I do, it’s this.” Tony replied tiredly, pointing at the screen. 

“What am I looking at?” Pepper questioned.

“New York’s newest, and most childish vigilante.” Tony said opening his arms up wide. “I went to confront him about him not taking the whole hero thing seriously, but he was being sarcastic, and disappeared before I could even say anything.” he finished in a huff. 

“Tony, are you sure you weren’t scaring him?” Pepper asked?

“He was sassing me Pep!” 

Pepper shot Tony a look that said ‘Don’t shout at me, or you’ll be sleeping on the couch tonight’ before sighing and stepping into the hallway.

\------------------

That night when the robber pulled the gun on Peter, it reminded him of the night Ben died. Usually this didn’t bother him, but he was certain that was the same guy who murdered his uncle for a couple hundred dollars. He felt like everything was starting to remind him of Ben and May, especially since this would be his first winter all alone, on the streets.

He also felt like he was being watched so he didn’t go straight home. Even when he decided he should head home, he went the long way hoping to lose whatever was following him. Peter did feel kind of stupid because he could’ve just been paranoid. 

When he finally got home it was nearing 3 in the morning, great. Peter had the internship tomorrow which meant he had to be up by 9 which was even better. He did his nightly routine, and slipped into some warm pajamas. Since it was starting to get much colder, Peter decided that he would need to look for more blankets, or he would have to buy more. Ever since he got his powers he’s had trouble staying warm. 

He wrote himself a to-do list for the next day and hoped he wouldn’t be exhausted.

\-----------------

“May! Ben! Look what I made!” a little peter said showing them his artwork.

“That’s lovely sweetie but we can’t hang it up.” May replied warmly. Placing her hand on his shoulder lovingly. She had a glint of sorrow in her eyes. 

“Why not?” Peter questioned sadly. He had worked so hard on his artwork, wanting to make it perfect for May and Ben.

“Because you’re the reason we’re dead” Ben answered, solemnly. Peter went stiff, it was his fault they were dead. He was the reason they were gone. The reason his parents were gone. He was cursed. He was--

Peter bolted awake. 

This was the second nightmare in a week. This started to put Peter on edge, since he never had them this much. He tried not to think of them, but it was hard to not miss decorating the apartment, watching those Hallmark movies with May, or building a snowman on the fire escape with Ben. Peter had a good schedule and he couldn’t let his memories get in the way of it. 

It was about 9:45 min the morning, which meant Peter needed to get going if he wanted to run a few errands before 12. Peter wondered if he could use Spider-Man to get across the city, instead of walking to Manhattan. But, he knew he couldn’t because he was at risk of being discovered with the Avengers after him. So, the subway will have to do.


	5. The Runaway Van

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter Spends some time at the internship, and Peter encounters a new villain. Also, kinda a Thanksgiving gift to all of you guys!
> 
> -D

Chapter 5 The Runaway Van

Peter didn’t mind taking the subway. Sure, it had the odd smelling person, but you could always find some money that someone dropped on it. Today for example he found $20 which was like winning the lottery of subway change. He sat in the corner of the subway careful to not have anyone recognize him. For the past couple of weeks Peter had been laying low and not going out as Spider-Man very often. Today however, Peter was heading to Queens to get a couple of warm winter things from a consignment shop he liked. 

He sat on the subway for what felt like an eternity. Web-slinging really was becoming his main way of transportation, and that probably wasn’t very good. God he needed to find some more hobbies. Maybe he should start riding the subway to Manhattan or Queens. 

‘When was this ride going to end?’ Peter thought looking at the screen above him. He still had two more stops until he got to Main St Station. He glanced at his watch noticing that it was only 10:20am. Slumping over in his seat he sighed, he’d only been on the subway for 10 minutes and he couldn’t wait to get off. He pulled out a biology book he’d borrowed from the library, and began to take notes about cell mutation. Maybe he could learn about what the spider bite did to him.

7 minutes later, he stepped off the subway and started off to the consignment shop. He put up his hood incase he passed up any missing person posters he hadn’t torn down yet. Those things were really starting to annoy him. Why did the police have to use his old school picture? He has about two blocks away from the consignment shop when he noticed some police tape and part of the road blocked off in front of Mr. Delmar’s. He quickly crossed the road, ran into the back alley and scaled the building, so he could listen to the police. 

“Tell me again Mr. Delmar what happened?” an officer said, ready to take notes.

“I just finished cleaning, getting ready to close the deli for the night when this group of thugs came in, and sat down at the furthest table back. I went over to ask them what they wanted, then everything went black. I woke up to find the deli trashed and robbed.” Mr. Delmar repeated calmer, although he looked destroyed. 

“Okay do you remember what they look like?” the officer asked.

“Yes” Mr. Delmar answered, nodding.

“I’m going to have you describe them to a sketch artist at the station.” the officer said guiding Mr.Delmar to his squad car. 

Then he overheard two other police officer’s talking “Are you sure all this damage is caused by those weird weapons popping up in new york?” one asked the other incredulously. “Yeah, man there is no way a group of thugs could’ve caused this damage without making a scene.”

Peter leaned back and sighed. ‘Why didn’t I sense this happen?’ Peter asked himself. He felt like a failure. The whole reason he became Spider-Man was to keep people safe, and he couldn’t even keep someone he knew safe from a group of thugs. He was some hero. Also, why haven’t he seen any of these “alien guns” yet. He would have to figure this out when he got to the lab. Speaking of the lab he couldn’t be late, glancing at his watch, he noticed that it was already 10:41. He still needed to run to the consignment shop, and get to Manhattan in an hour and 34 minutes. He started to sprint across the roofs since they were close together and he would make it over there in less than 5 minutes, rather than 8. 

He crawled down the side of the building, then entered it in search of winter clothes. Peter browsed the store for about 10 minutes, trying to get the cheaper stuff that would still keep him warm. He tried to find holes and rips in everything hoping they could be marked down. He had two fleece blankets, both having holes that he could stitch up, a warm black jacket that had been missing a few buttons, along with a hole in the lining, a couple pairs of warm socks, a pair of sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a fluffy onesie. His total had come out to be $28.93 which was expensive for being homeless, but it was the cheapest things he could find that were good quality. 

After paying, and leaving the store, he started walking to the nearest subway station he could find, in order to make it to Manhattan on time. He had about an hour before he had to be at the tower and the nearest station to it in Manhattan was a 10 min walk. 

By the time he got to the nearest station it was already 11:13. Peter scanned his ticket, and walked down to the platform. He looked around in disgust because this station was disgusting. There were rats fighting over some pizza in the corner, a homeless man was sitting in the corner with the rats, and there was trash and spray paint everywhere. He glanced down at his watch. He only had 3 minutes until the subway came. God he missed web-slinging. 

\---------------

Peter was a few minutes late to his internship, but he hoped that was fine, right? He took the elevator straight up to the R&D labs, walked down the hallway to lab #15, scanned his key card, turned the lights on and began to set up. He worked on a few new projects he was sent and finished the blue prints pretty quickly. He had just recently realized that he can get food from the cafeteria for free because of the internship. Peter had begun to take advantage of that, grabbing an extra water, or bag of chips just to have at the warehouse. When he walked into the cafeteria, he was surprised to find it decorated, and the lunch ladies serving a Thanksgiving Day lunch. This made sense because Peter hadn’t seen many other interns today. He completely forgot that today was Thanksgiving. He filled his plate with all his favorites and made a mental note to come back later for more. Usually Peter would eat again before he left so he wouldn’t have to buy dinner. 

Instead of sitting in the lounge and eating, Peter always ate in his lab. Then he didn’t have to risk the chance of being recognized, or revealing anything about himself. While eating Peter began to work on some new web formulas, with better tensile strength, and durability. He figured if he couldn’t go out a patrol then he would upgrade his suit and web shooters. Peter finished the rest of his lunch, and began to continue working. About 30 minutes later, he herd the familiar beep that alerted him he had an email. However, he was completely caught off guard that it came from Tony Stark. 

Hey kid,   
I looked at your designs and they seem really promising. Keep up the good work. Also, I need a report on how your sound-energy converters are doing.  
-TS

Peter re-read the email in shock. He never realized that Tony even looked at any of his models, designs, or data analysis. Peter believed that some head of his department looked over them. That email really brought back the stress of having to make everything perfect. So, he decided to start working on collecting the data from his sound-energy converter. He turned on the news on TV he had in the lab to listen to while compiling the data in a spreadsheet to analyze. J. Jonah Jameson was babbling about how the mayor is a corrupt politician on the Daily Bugle. Peter always kept an eye on that news outlet especially since the company declared Spider-Man a “dangerous vigilante, that wants to steal money from burglars after apprehending them”. 

When he accidently switched the channel he saw reports of alien weapons, and a blown up bank. He immediately began to more articles. Maybe if he could find a pattern he could figure out where these criminals will be next and get them off the streets. After browsing the internet for about an hour, he had about 40 different sightings compiled into an algorithm to help determine when and where this group of criminals will be next. While waiting for the program to finish analyzing the data he began to work on some other assignments he had that were due by the end of the day. When the program was finally able to determine where the next sale or robbery would be Peter had just finished working out some schematics. 

“Okay what’s next on Spider-Man’s itinerary?” Peter asked while looking at where and when Spider-Man’s next appearance will be. “Okay, under Westport Bridge, 7:pm tonight.” Peter hit save on the program, and checked the time. It was 5:20 meaning he had to leave now if he wanted to catch these guys. Peter quickly put all the projects he worked on today into a file and sent them in. He quickly closed the lab and grabbed his spider suit, leaving the things he’d bought in the lab.

\-----------------

When he got there it was 6:38pm. That gave Peter enough time to find a good place to watch whatever happens, and to ambush them when needed. He knew that if he played his cards right then he’d be able to take these guys down and find a lead to where these weapons are coming from. He climbed under the bridge and positioned himself in the dark corner, waiting until 6:48 when a white van pulled into the parking lot. No one got out of the car at first, which caused Peter to assume that this was indeed a gun or drug deal. Another car pulled in at 7:02 and parked across from the van. Only then did the guys get out of the van and open the back. Peter had brought a camera from the lab with him in order to take pictures to help ID the guys if needed. Only two people were in the van, a tall guy with short brown hair, and another guy with a shaved head. The guy that was in the car, who was probably the buyer, had dark skin and dark curly hair. 

The guy with the shaved head reached into the back of the van and pulled out a large gun.

“This RPG Q15 has a mean punch. It will go through walls, concrete, and steel, nice for robbing banks, or breaking into high security buildings. ” Bald guy said, looking at the gun with a sense of admiration. “Show him some of the others” The tall guy said. The other one complied before grabbing a few others and explaining what they do. “Can I test some of them?” the buyer asked eager to try out some of the inventory. “Let me try this one,” he said pointing to the first one he was shown.

The shaved head guy reached into the back of the van and pulled out the RPG Q15 gingerly, handing it to the buyer. He looked at it before aiming it and firing at a nearby tree. “I like this one how much?” the buyer asked handing back the gun and reaching into his pocket. At that point Peter knew he needed to step in. he quickly flipped out from under the bridge, shooting the buyer with a web, webbing his feet to the ground. “How much is it? I brought my checkbook” he said, internally laughing at his witty remark. The tall guy ran to the front of the van and the other jumped in the back, closing the doors before speeding off. “I’ll come back for you, but if I forget, you should be good in about two hours.” Peter yelled behind him, shooting a web to chase that runaway van. 

\---------------

When Peter caught up to the van, the back doors blew open and violently flew off as the bald guy shot at him with a gun. Peter jumped on top of a door and attached a web to the van, making it easier to chase this van through the suburbs. “This is the most fun I’ve ever had street tubing guys!” Peter yelled to the two men in the van, as the bald guy yelled “We need to lose him or boss will kill us!”

Just then Peter hit two garbage cans fell off the door, but he quickly webbed a lid, and stood on that. Just then, he was lifted into the air. “What the-” Peter said shocked. 

He looked up to see a man with mechanical wings holding him, and flying towards the city. He was wearing a leather aviator jacket, and a helmet that covered his face, with green lenses where his eyes are. 

“Hey let go of me!” Peter yelled, trying to get out of the metal talons, attached to his boots. The talons tightened instead, piercing his skin. Peter howled in pain, as the man said “your messing with my guys, so you better stay away bug boy.” 

Then Peter was dropped. As he was falling he shot a web at the man to try to slow down, before he hit the ground. That backfired as the man was pulled down with him. One of his wings, which reminded Peter of a vulture, tore into Peter’s side, ripping his skin leaving a large, but shallow laceration, and severing the web Peter was hanging off of. 

Then Peter hit the lake they must’ve been flying above. He swam to the top to breath, the frigid water making him wide awake. He struggled to breathe as he swam to the shore side. God he needed to get somewhere warm and dry. Finally, after an eternity he made it to shore. He pulled himself out of the water, turning over onto his back and looking up at the night sky. Then, everything went black. 

\---------------------

Tony was working in his lab before him and Pepper would go celebrate Thanksgiving with the other Avengers in the tower. He figured it was the best way to relieve his stress before he had dinner with the whole scooby gang.

“Sir, Mr. Parker, turned in that report you wanted.” Friday alerted Tony. 

“Ok pull it up Fri.” He responded, walking over to the middle of his lab.

Just then, two documents popped up. One was filled with all the data concerning the sound-energy converters, and the other was a program filled with a string of reported robberies and illegal arms sales, with the time and location. What the hell? Tony thought as he scrolled through the list. It seemed to date back at least 2 months. “Friday what is this?” Tony asked, wanting to know what the kid was up to, and why he was documenting a string of robberies and illegal arms sales.

“This is a list of criminal activity all done by the same group of people. Mr. Parker ran a program earlier today, to determine when the next time this group would be selling guns or robbing something.” Friday informed Tony. 

“Why would the kid be looking into this?” Tony said looking at the time to see if the kid was still here. “Damn it.” he said seeing that it was 5:20 and the kid would’ve been long gone by now. 

“Sir I hate to interrupt you, but Miss Potts is requesting you come up for dinner.” Friday said. 

“Tell her I’ll be up.” Tony sighed, “and clear my schedule for tomorrow. I need to have a much needed conversation with Mr. Parker.” he finished before stepping into the elevator.

\--------------------

Peter miraculously woke up and had enough strength to swing, but not for long. He was way to far from the warehouse to make it there without passing out, but he was close enough to swing to the tower, so he made the executive decision to sleep in his lab for the night. Plus, it had food, and heat which made it better. 

As he got up to swing he got really light headed, but it only lasted a second as he shot a web out to a nearby building. Peter, could feel his muscles burn as he swung the short distance to the tower. He landed on the observation deck on the 25th floor, and took the elevator down to the 18th floor where his lab was. He slowly staggered down the hallway and scanned his key card. He only turned on the lamp on his desk, and immediately went for the med kit he kept in the bottom drawer. Grabbing the gauze, medical wrap, hydrogen peroxide, and butterfly stitches he began to patch up the gashes on his shoulders, and the long cut on his side. Peter hissed as he cleaned his wounds with the peroxide, before dressing them. He used the butterfly stitches to hold together the cut on his side for it to heal faster, then wrapped it. He also used the gauze and medical tape to cover the gashes on his shoulders. 

Peter began to clean up afterwards, and was suddenly overcome with exhaustion. He looked at the time and saw that it was nearing 2 am. Grabbing the bag of things he’d bought earlier that day, he got changed out of his damp, bloody suit, into sweatpants, and a t-shirt, and walked over to the couch in the corner of the lab. He grabbed a blanket and covered himself, before passing out again. So much for a great Thanksgiving. 

\--------------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg I can't even express how thankful I am for yinz reading this and being so supportive. My original plan with this story was to write the entire thing then publish chapters weekly, but I was so excited to share it with all of you that I published it immediately after I wrote it. I'm going to try to post 2 more by Christmas, but then I might drop off the face of the earth again to focus on school and giving yinz good content. Have a great Thanksgiving and thank you all for all the support it really means a lot to me!
> 
> -D
> 
> P.S. I'm from Pittsburgh that's why I say yinz

**Author's Note:**

> So what'd you think? please leave a comment! I'm trying my hardest, but I'll try to get another chapter out soon! I love you all!
> 
> -D


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